A groundbreaking account of how the Book of Exodus shaped fundamental aspects of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Jan Assmann is honorary professor of cultural studies at the University of Konstanz and professor emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Heidelberg. He is the author of many books, including Cultural Memory and Early Civilization and Moses the Egyptian.
"In this brilliant, imaginative, and comprehensive study of the
Book of Exodus, Jan Assmann draws on his extensive and nuanced
knowledge of ancient civilizations, cultural memory, and biblical
texts to make the case that the Exodus story of the liberation of a
people is also the story of the unprecedented invention of a
radically new conception of religion--one that became the basis for
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The breadth and depth of
Assmann's multifaceted explorations are dazzling."--Richard J.
Bernstein, New School for Social Research
"Jan Assmann's latest book is a blockbuster--beautifully written,
capacious, learned, and endlessly creative. It is sure to become a
touchstone for scholars and readers interested in the Bible, the
ancient world, and the history of monotheism, past and
present."--Jonathan Sheehan, University of California, Berkeley
"[Assmann] represents the best tradition of a German public
intellectual, able to support his thesis with a wide diversity of
insights and to do so with authority and creativity"---Michael R.
Simone, Theological Studies
"In this bold reading of the Book of Exodus, Jan Assmann, one of
the world's leading intellectuals, shows how Exodus preserves
prebiblical Egyptian and Israelite memories while eliciting a
'monotheism of loyalty' that has defined much of Western
religion."--David M. Carr, author of The Formation of the Hebrew
Bible
"Jan Assmann, one of Germany's most influential historians and
intellectuals, breaks new ground in The Invention of Religion. It
is a remarkable achievement, one that promises to spark
controversy."--Jacob L. Wright, Emory University
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